Apocalypse Rising :Hiatus
by tempest-minor
Summary: In the shop for maintenance :D
1. Currents of Change

**Apocalypse Rising**

**!Mind the Dust. Construction is Under Way!**

I take no credit for Gundam Seed, Day After Tomorrow, or the King James Version of the Bible.

Here is a full summary of the story so far: 

In an act of desperation the ZAFT Supreme Council set Operation Ether into motion. Named after the hypothetical matter that was once believed to make up space, Operation Ether is a massive covert effort where, among other things, _"giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself, come to earth to create doom for man." _However this scheme, brought to life through treachery and deceit, went horribly and irrevocably awry.

Political and economic chaos on both the earth and PLANT strengthen with each passing day as paranoia and unrest take root in every echelon of society; while in the shadows powerful dormant factions awaken to change the future of humanity. Armageddon looms on the horizon...

_"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;_

_And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken in a mighty wind."_

Revelations 6:12-13

King James Version of the Bible 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Currents of Change**

Introduction 

Several weeks ago invitations were sent to announce the first annual PLANT Terrestrial Research Conference. One such invitation was sent to a Dr. Miche Crysanthys of the International Marine Monitoring Agency.

It was in fact the only invitation sent.

However Dr. Crysanthys was unable to attend, so he sent four of his most trusted interns and a chaperone to Aprilius One in his stead.

When they arrived, they soon discovered that there was no Terrestrial Research Conference, but instead there existed a web of deception that intertwined the highest authorities of earth and space; Religion and Science.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

_PLANT Council Structure ( Aprilius One)_

"You mean that you've known all along?" One brave soul dared to question the contingent of soldiers that blocked the door. Their shadows, stretched and alien, fell across the defiant faces of the young captives. Stiff-shouldered bodies bearing ZAFT insignias blocked the stale artificial light from the open doorway, casting the small room into a frightening juxtaposition of ribbons of light and planes of shadow.

"Known and done nothing?" The voice was female, wrought with anguish and bitter rage. Her cropped blonde hair fell before her face, shadowing cobalt eyes brimming with angry tears that she refused to let fall. One soldier stepped forward and slipped his gun from its holster. His arm drew back, swung forward, and stuck the woman with the butt of the weapon. The milliseconds between the blow and when she collapsed to the ground slowed and hung in the air. The stakes had been raised.

"Filthy cowards! You just helped murder billions of people!" Time came reeling back as another female voice took up the call. She writhed against the crude rope bonds- to no avail. Yet this didn't hinder her determination. The people of earth had to be warned.

_In Year 70 of the Cosmic Era, after ZAFT deposited Neutron Jammers across earth's surface in Operation Uroboros, all fell to silence. Thus began the time of 'Cosmic Whispers'; the short period of political and economic quiet directly after the attack. Governments ground to a halt and communications between terrestrial nations failed as the terrified people of earth fell back to a code of instincts suppressed for the sake of evolution. There was no way for the nations of earth, thrust back into a primitive world long ago forgotten, to access their weather satellites, which hovered like specters above the chaos and confusion. Orbiting as silent witnesses to the pandemonium below. The useless eyes of a world that could no longer register sight; A world that could only flail blindly in the night of engineered madness. _

_There was no way for the people of earth to see the strange anomalies set up at the polar ice caps and lands forever bound to frost. Giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself, come to earth to create doom for man._

_For centuries we have invited this fate. And now... it has come._

Another grim-faced soldier stepped forward. In a fluid motion he withdrew his gun and pointed it at the forehead of the bold captive, arm straight and unwavering. The edges of his face and torso were blurred by the light that shone in dazzling contrast from behind. It caught on the cold metal weapon and gleamed across the barrel. At this range the wizened soldier could see the fire behind the young woman's cerulean eyes. A defiance that had to be quieted. At all costs.

The captives' ankles were bound with coils of yellowing rope and their wrists bound behind their backs in a similar fashion. A method primitive for the PLANT, but the only means available on such short notice. No one intended to take civilians captive. But they had seen things. Things that were worth willing killing to keep secret.

As the soldier raised his gun to the woman, she rose up on her knees and rested her forehead against the barrel in a blatant act of defiance. Quietly she spoke the words that every captive thought, but hadn't the courage to speak.

"You are already murdering countless innocent. Why then should my death matter?"

The soldier lowered the weapon with a daunting slowness till it was angled at her abdomen. Still the woman, though exhausted and afraid, refused to tear her burning gaze away. Not when the sound of a gunshot thundered dully against distant walls, nor not when her own dark blood trickled down her side, did she show any fear.

_For months the council had been planning. While the petty earth-nations argued about the economy and land boundaries, the ZAFT watched and planned and schemed and built._

_There was a plan. A way in which to finally eliminate all opposition. The details presented to the council had been vague, but convincing enough. After days of heated deliberation, Operation Terminus was ratified. _

_It was decided that during the ensuing silent chaos after ZAFT scattered the N-Jammers, special-op teams under the bold name ' Terminus', would be sent to Antarctica, Greenland, Alaska, and both polar caps. Their mission, secret. Their devices, sinister._

_The northern hemisphere owes its warm climate to the North Atlantic Current, which relies on a delicate saline balance in the world's oceans. For centuries, humans, bustling through industrial and scientific revolutions, have paid little heed to their celestial host, and continued to rape the earth for their selfish needs. But earth will no longer stand for such behavior from man, who has yet to learn his place._

_An imbalance has been created. A disaster has been engineered. An unstoppable fury has been unleashed._

"We know what you cowards did!" The woman cried in a final desperate attempt, oblivious to everything but the blood thundering in her ears and the drum of her heart beating a tattoo of righteous rage. She was blind to the pleading stares of her comrades that begged her to stop goading the soldiers' wrath. Desperation clouded her reason, and she continued recklessly.

"You disrupted the balance. It was bound to happen, but you gave the catalyst it needed. You bastards-"the martyr's voice caught suddenly. Her eyes grew wide in shock as pain finally registered. Instinctually, the woman fell back and curled her knees to her chest to protect the wound. Adrenaline flooded her body in response to the sudden trauma coupled with utter mental distress at the knowledge that, despite their efforts, they would not leave the complex alive.

"No one else speak unless you want a similar end." Another soldier stepped forward and motioned to the crumpled woman. There was no choice but to comply. Two men and three women sat huddled beneath a blanket of despair in a secret conference room at the PLANT Council Structure. It was unfortunate that they had been caught- millions, if not billions _might_ have been saved.

_Teams at the target locations used special equipment from MMI (Maius Military Industries) to break off massive tons of ice into the oceans, further widening the rift between the amounts of salt and fresh water in the planet's oceans. Earth had been at a critical desalinization point before ZAFT's meddling. And now, in C.E 71, it is too late to stop what is to come. And despite what they think, the PLANT Supreme Council does wield control over earth. For because of their selfish actions, a terrible dawn shall arise for the world of men._

_Kaohsiung Military Base ( Taiwan, Earth)_

Rusty and Dearka yawned simultaneously. Both had given up on asking, "what the hell are we doing in Taiwan", and settled for lounging about and looking bored. Le Creuset had simply given them coordinates and ushered his team to the shuttle.

Currently they were garrisoned at a captured OMNI base at Kaohsiung. Earlier in the war, ZAFT had taken over and assimilated the base into a final training camp for rookie soldiers. The trip to earth would also serve to calm their nerves about the first mission; the one that could make or break a soldier. The commander was especially worried about Nicol and Athrun, not having seen the warrior nerve in either of them as of yet. Dearka, Rusty, and Yzak, in contrast seemed to have plenty of aggression for the field.

Athrun sighed and flipped a page in his book, not having read anything on the previous one. The window of his and Nicol's room was open and letting in a warm island breeze. The climate here seemed to calm everyone. Ever since they arrived, tensions that had been high since the academy were relaxing, if only slightly. Athrun flipped another page idly.

Yzak had agreed to accompany Nicol on a tour of the area. He didn't find Kaohsiung to be all that impressive in itself, but Nicol insisted that they go around and do some cultural exploring. Seeing as how he had nothing better to do than either watch Rusty and Dearka blow snot-bubbles in their sleep, or watch Athrun get all 'broody', he decided to go exploring with the team underling.

Nicol, on the other hand, was looking forward to learning more about earth. Until Commander Le Creuset contacted them again, the team was on some sort of quasi-vacation disguised half-heartedly as training. This left them time to explore to their heart's content- with a superior escorting them, of course, to make sure that they didn't converse with any _questionable_ natives.

The number one rule of warfare is, and has always been, to never truly know the enemy. It was why the hundred year European occupation of the Holy Land collapsed. The Occidental Christians got to know their Jewish and Muslim neighbors, and no longer wished to fight them.

Back home information concerning the planet was limited and often very bare in details. This was their first terrestrial trip, and it was only natural to be curious as to what earth _really_ was like. Perhaps it wasn't as 'filthy and disease ridden' as people said back home. Then again, all media was biased. Even their own perceptions were distorted by their beliefs and upbringing. The only thing one could do was try and remain open-minded.

It was good for them to forget about their upcoming mission at Heliopolis. Something just didn't sit well with the team. If it were an OMNI colony, their sentiments would be vastly different. But it was neutral. In fact, there was even a treaty with the parent nation of Aube. The entire situation just seemed wrong. But with things on earth beginning to change, would they ever make it to space again? More importantly, when cataclysm strikes and fear takes hold, would they even have homes to return to?

_PLANT Council Structure ( Aprilius One)_

Lights flickered to life along the streets adjacent to the council building. The dull glow touched with timid fingers the small windows of a room where hope had long since flown away. Five in total were bound and huddled in a corner. A woman with light blonde hair cradled her jaw against her shoulder. The dried blood caked to her pale lips and cheek hindered her speech, making even the smallest of sounds an effort. She leaned heavily on an older man with dark black hair pulled back at the nape of his neck.

Currently, his cold amethyst eyes, hardened by the fields of war, were squeezed shut. Despite the fact that he was now a citizen considered 'neutral', the near brain-washing that he received in training came flooding back like a mighty typhoon on the banks of his mind. And now, it all seemed justified. The ZAFT were cold-hearted killers. All coordinators we- he stopped himself as a pang of guilt struck. These kids had done nothing to deserve his hatred. No one could choose what side to be born to.

"Raisu," the blond woman whispered, her pain-clouded eyes sluggishly rising to look up at the man. Despite his closed eyes, she knew he was listening. "I don't think we'll get out of here." Even though her broken words were meant for the man alone, they reached the other three captives and hung in the air like a curse.

"No Keirran, we'll get out of here," a small voice from the shadows offered optimistically.

"Mido, you shouldn't be moving-"

The injured woman- teenager really, attempted to wave off the concern casually, her slight wince belying the confidence she tried to exude.

The other man in the group, a young wiry man with light platinum hair and languid orange eyes looked at his companions warily. The bottom half of his shirt was missing and the newly created hem hung ragged against his pale abdomen. It had been ripped off in an attempt to bind Midori's gunshot wound, which was already darkening as she strained to sit up.

"Then our first priority would be to get out alive then." The younger of the two men looked around the group as he spoke, his voice hushed.

"Jerizon, that's suicide!" Raisu hissed vehemently. His amethyst eyes narrowed at the teenager, and his voice hushed to an almost painfully soft tone. "With Midori and Keirran injured, we wouldn't make it out of the room!"

Jerizon looked to Midori and Keirran for support, still acutely wary of the lingering soldiers. "You would rather sit here and rot while ZAFT destroys earth? They have no warning," he whispered dismally.

"I would rather die trying to warn the people of earth then end up as leverage." A new voice entered the conversation. Cynthie, the oldest of the group looked Raisu in the eyes with wisdom borne of a tired life spent in a war-torn world. "Whether you join us or not, we are getting out of here." Her saffron eyes glinted dangerously in the faint glow of the hall lights, taking on a primal and unstable glow. The instinct to survive overrode all else.

Raisu sighed in defeat. "I know what we can do then..." his gaze drifted to the ZAFT soldiers milling in the adjacent corner." I'm sorry Mido." With that the reached over and removed Jerizon's shirt from where it was pressed tightly against Midori's abdomen. "Be glad you're a Coordinator."

_Kaohsiung Military Base ( Taiwan, Earth)_

Athrun twitched in his sleep. His face lay plastered across an open book whose subject the young soldier most likely didn't even remember. The corner of his mouth quirked into a frown- it was cold. Athrun opened an eye warily, sleep still hazing the corners of his vision.

Earlier in the morning, when he had opened the window, it had been a temperate 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Typical for a tropical marine climate such as Taiwan. But from what he had been told, earth tended to grow hotter as the day drew on, not colder. Athrun shivered slightly. The temperature had dropped twenty degrees at least in the few hours that he had dozed off.

With a stifled groan Athrun pushed himself up out of the chair and made his way over to the window. The room that he and Nicol shared was a few paces wide, but had two small beds and a modest wooden desk taking up most of the space, so he nearly had to hug the stale walls in order to make it across the room.

After a wistful sigh Athrun folded his arms and propped them on the window sill, head gently resting upon his laced fingers. Earlier, when he had opened the window, the sky had been a pleasant shade of blue with high clouds smeared like brushstrokes across the horizon. When they first arrived he had questioned about the weather. Apparently it was overcast a majority of the year. As it was becoming now. The bright blue sky was quickly being devoured by thick gauzy clouds sluggishly moving in from the north. Shadows suspended between the earth and the clouds drifted ever closer to Kaohsiung. There would be rain within the hour, he predicted absently.

A cool breeze swept through the window, sifting through his dark azure hair and caressing his cheek. Behind him, he heard the pages of the book flutter. There was a bitterness in the air that he couldn't quite identify. It seemed almost like... premonition.

Athrun narrowed his eyes. In two weeks the Le Creuset team would go on their first mission. They would infiltrate Heliopolis and steal the new Earth Alliance mobile suits. No matter how he tried to rationalize their actions, Athrun couldn't accept that those actions would be right.

If something went wrong and the colony was destroyed, they would be hypocrites. Worse than hypocrites. They would have done the very thing that they entered the war to prevent.

_PLANT Council Structure ( Aprilius One)_

"They were supposed to report ten minutes ago. I'll have somebody's head for this," a ZAFT commander muttered to himself as he stalked down the hallway. His demure assistant followed a proper pace behind, clipboard in hand. The commander was a tall man with a face that could once have been kind, but years in the military had turned his eyes cold and his mouth into a hard line. His usually hardened demeanor was even more so after the day's events.

"At least they've kept quiet…" his voice faded as they came upon the entrance to the room. The door was slightly ajar, letting a thin spear of light into the darkness. His mouth twitched into a frown. Hooking a finger around the door, the commander pulled it open and flooded the first few feet of the room with artificial white light. With an agitated sigh, he groped along the wall for a light switch.

"You all can speak up now that-" –click- the lights came on.

Three soldiers lay sprawled in the center of the room. Blood crept across the white linoleum floor, like a living thing retreating from the sight of death. A handprint stained in vibrant crimson smeared down along the wall and blazed a distorted trail along the floor for several feet before disappearing into nothing but a trail of droplets and faint smears.

The commander burst from the room, nearly crashing into a group of passing soldiers. "Sound the alarm, they have escaped!" His enormous form trembled in rage at the thought of his men dying at civilian hands, and that those responsible ran free. "Use all force needed! They cannot escape the structure!" He gritted his teeth. After they caught the civilians, they would find the bastard that called in the bomb threat that started the whole damn thing.

_Kaohsiung Military Base ( Taiwan, Earth)_

"Two hours of museums and mud." Yzak's growl reached Athrun's ears before the two ZAFT reds trudged around the corner of the barracks. At first Athrun, still leaning against the window sill, didn't recognize his comrades. After all it wasn't every day that Yzak Joule didn't look positively dapper and charming. Athrun grinned darkly at the thought of a disheveled Yzak ranting about. There were even little curls of smoke puffing from his ears to complete the humorous little image. His damn angular haircut could be the reason why he always looked so pinched and sharp, Athrun mused, not in the best of moods.

Nicol didn't look the least bit perturbed by the mud. The young pianist (as Athrun had learned at the Academy) even hazarded a small smile-, which seemed to irritate Yzak even more for some reason.

The older of the duo sniffed in disgust. "If I knew that this would happen, I would have requested a more suitable field uniform," Yzak grimaced as he spoke, his hand straying to brush at a small patch of drying mud on his sleeve.

"It will come off your uniform, Yzak. Don't panic." Nicol tried to console his companion as best he could. Yzak didn't seem to notice his attempts as he neurotically continued to pick at the dirt on his sleeve.

They continued to walk in an uncomfortable silence. As Nicol was about to point out a small smudge of dirt on Yzak's cheek, he spotted Athrun resting his head on the window sill of their room. Or rather, he saw a shock of azure hair and the tip of a forehead just barely hanging over the sill.

"Hey Athrun!" The younger boy's light voice was unmistakable. There wasn't much Athrun could do other than lift his head and acknowledge his peers' approach- which he did with a slight wave and silent wish that they would keep on walking and let him be alone.

"You're filthy." Athrun's curt barb got the desired response from Yzak. . .

A dark "piss off Zala" before he walked off briskly, muttering something about 'filthy planets', and 'the use of bleach.'

Once Yzak had walked off towards their block's side entrance, Athrun leaned out the window and gave Nicol a wan smile.

"We went to Sun and Moon Lake," Nicol offered with a smile, obviously hoping to lighten the dark mood that seemed to hang around his friend lately. "You should've gone. It was beautiful." He continued with a wistful glance at the sky. "There were temples, gardens, and a nine-story pagoda."

Athrun's dubious expression prompted further explanation.

"It started the rain, and we had to run to catch the bus back to the base." Nicol looked back at Athrun with a chagrined sigh. That expression was somehow endearing. Not in the perverse way that Dearka made crude remarks about, but endearing in a brotherly way. This it why I protect you. As a comrade. As a friend. As a brother.

"You should clean up too, in case they call for an inspection," Athrun noted as he realized that they both had gone silent.

The younger soldier's look of horror caught Athrun off guard. Hurriedly trying to amend the situation, Athrun shook his head and said, "They probably won't. But you'd better go just in case."

They hadn't known each other before their squad assignments, but Athrun had taken to the role of playing the sensible big brother figure for Nicol. No matter how he tried to hide it, Athrun could tell that the soft-spoken soldier was worried about their first mission.

Their aggressive teammates took it upon themselves to torment Nicol whenever he was alone, calling him "coward" for not trash-talking the Naturals. Athrun had even overheard Yzak tell Nicol that he would "become some Natural's bitch" unless he toughened up. Of course they were simply teasing him, but that was beside the point.

Athrun couldn't fathom why Nicol continued to show them kindness in the face of their torment. The phrase, 'kill them with kindness' usually didn't apply in the military.

_Morgenroete Inc. ( Heliopolis)_

"Welcome to Morgenroete Inc., a munitions company based out of the neutral nation of Aube. On this tour you'll see some of the amazing things that this company and her supporters have created." After her introductory speech, a petit woman in a bright blue leisure suit herded the gawking group of tourists inside the main building of Heliopolis's technical hub.

Near the back of the group a small knot of teenagers conversed about themselves quietly. As the mass of people moved along the sterile hallway towards the neat information booth, flustered security contingent, and colorful Morgenroete Gift Shop, five teenagers in yellow Heliopolis Industrial College sweatshirts slunk into an adjacent hallway. One which was clearly labeled 'Authorized Personnel Only.'

"We could get expelled, or go to jail for this guys." the only female in the group, a petit brunette, cautioned her friends.

Sai turned and gave her a reassuring smile, pushing his dual-toned sunglasses up on the bridge of his nose. "Relax Mir, we just want to see if the rumors are true."

Cameras mounted on the walls continued to blink and swivel in an automatic routine. All seeing, and yet blind to the actions going on below. Under normal circumstances the teenagers would have been caught, hauled away, and chastised for getting separated from the tour group. But circumstances had changed.

Kira looked to Mir and explained in a hushed voice. "There have been rumors about Aube signing a deal with the Earth Alliance. And the rumors all have something to do with Block D-13. We'll just go in, take a look, and get out."

During the course of the conversation, Tolle had strayed to look at the door. His brows furrowed in thought as he considered the mammoth portal before them. The doors looked like they could be several feet deep. Made and enforced by steel; clearly off limits.

"How are we going to get in without the access code?" Tolle asked suddenly, looking up from the keypad and turning to face the rest of the group.

That thought sent everyone into a few moments of contemplative silence. Kira opened his mouth to speak just as a hollow, metallic burst of thunder shook the tiled floor and caused the lights to flicker haphazardly.

Sai took a step towards the massive door to touch the bright yellow stripes of warning painted across it. His movements appeared in distorted clips as the lights continued to flicker.

"Sai, no!" Miriallia yelled as she took a fearful step back.

When the lights faded to a faint glow, Kira looked around, surveying the hallway with an analytical eye. "They're on reserve power," he motioned to the dull yellow glow coming from lights imbedded in the stark linoleum floor.

Tolle and Kuzzey joined Sai at the door, each looking at or touching it with a tentative hand. Somewhere beyond the door, another explosion sounded.

"Kira," Mir began slowly, horror dawning in her voice. "Why can't we hear anyone?"

Everyone turned to look at the hallway they had come from- to see a thick slab of metal blocking the path.

"In case of an attack, it drops down to protect the entrance." Kira noted calmly as he walked to the keypad next to the door. His stride suggested a sudden air of authority and the tone of his voice remained calm.

In a few quick strokes of the keys, the screen read 'accepted' and the Block D-13 doors began to grind open.

"We have no other choice."

Before they could ask how he knew, Kira explained it deftly, "Alexander Morgenroete, creator of Morgenroete Inc. was German. And since it called for an eleven number password at D-13, it was the German word for the number thirteen, dreizehn, transferred to its numeric counterpart. 4(d) 18(r) 5(e) 9(i) 26(z) 5(e) 8(h) 14(n)"

The small group of Heliopolis Industrial College students waited as the doors retreated into the walls, slowly revealing that distant war-torn world that seemed so far from their neutral naiveté. People dressed in civilian clothing darted behind machinery and attacked approaching Earth Alliance soldiers with primal efficiency. Their deafening cries ricocheted off the steel walls with lives of their own as a cacophony of gunshots and explosions rang from through out the block.

Dominating the Block D-13 floor were four massive mobile suits laying prostrate on steel platforms. In rapid succession, four of the machines stood. Colors blazed to life across the once gray armor. Blitz, Buster, Duel, and Aegis had been awakened.

* * *

FIN

I know the quality dropped in the last segment. Blar. On to the next chapter! I know I left a lot of questions.


	2. Courage to Lift the Fallen

**Apocalypse Rising**

**!Mind the Dust. Construction is Under Way!**

IDisclaimer: I own nothing of Gundam Seed or Day After Tomorrow. And now I also own nothing of '_Tathea_' by Ann Perry and the song Nemo by Nightwish. In fact, I suggest that you go to the library and music store right now! BTW, the orchestral version of Nemo is better in my opinion.

A/N 

Voices in the dark, clandestine tidings, angst, and music. Dun-Dun!

Here is a full summary of the story: 

In an act of desperation the ZAFT Supreme Council set Operation Ether into motion. Named after the hypothetical matter that was once believed to make up space, Operation Ether is a massive covert effort where, among other things, _"giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself, come to earth to create doom for man." _However this scheme, brought to life through treachery and deceit, went horribly and irrevocably awry.

Political and economic chaos on both the earth and PLANT strengthen with each passing day as paranoia and unrest take root in every echelon of society; while in the shadows powerful dormant factions awaken to change the future of humanity. Armageddon looms on the horizon...

_"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;_

_And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken in a mighty wind."_

Revelations 6:12-13

King James Version of the Bible 

**Courage to Lift the Fallen**

An Insert Chapter

* * *

_PLANT Council Structure ( Aprilius One)_

Five nameless shadows drifted through abandoned hallways deep within the sprawling council structure. Their unsure steps were relentlessly haunted by paranoia borne of fatigue and unending fear of what may await for them around each dark corner, where unseen demons searched for them with guns poised.

The dim light cast by cheap, fluorescent lighting along the floors and ceilings cast a effluvial sepia glow that clung to every hair, every exposed area of flesh, and every fiber of fabric; seeping inside and remaining as a caustic residue that would haunt the weary escapees' memories till their dying breathes. The fetid yellow light that lingered near the ceiling and rose like mist from the floor turned the never ending hallways into a hazy quagmire where imaginations ran rampant and eyes burned with straining desire to find the end.

Somewhere, deeper in the structure, where the outside world was seen through darkened screens and fleeting glimpses, a smooth voice dripped like honey in the darkness. "They're going right where we want them."

* * *

_PLANT Supreme Council Meeting Chamber ( Aprilius One) _

The members of the council had long since departed the large council structure. Even as they returned to their homes and hotels, many of the chair members remained unnerved. The caller of an anonymous bomb threat near the end of the meeting had yet to be found- along with any bomb. Someone had obviously wanted to interrupt the meeting. However no one could fathom why.

Despite the late hour, five of the twelve seats remained occupied at various stations around the massive, semicircular steel desk. The central lights of the meeting chamber were dark. Now the only light came from pale yellow fluorescents embedded into the cool marble floor. The glow hung low and remained like a soft, sulfuric mist. The faces of the remaining council members were cast into harsh planes and shadows, suitable for their clandestine tidings.

"**It seems that your plan is beginning to take effect**."

"**Yes Judicial Committee chair, It would seem that is has**."

"**We should make preparations to draw our troops from Earth."**

"**How long would that take?"**

"**Two weeks, three if we do not wish to look too suspicious**."

"**Have the teams returned from earth?"**

"**Just the other day. They say that it was a success, and that we should begin to see effects within the next few weeks**."

"**Intel has already reported drastic temperature drops in ****Asia**** and ****India****, as well as a large low pressure zone in ****Siberia**** and northern ****Canada**"

Silence.

"**It would seem that our plans have accelerated. Continue with your assignments. If any one catches word of this... you know what to do.**"

* * *

_Kaohsiung__ Military Base ( __Taiwan__, Earth)_

The first week of their terrestrial trip was over, leaving the Creuset Team rather bored. There were no more interesting things to be done about the base. Like a hotel room that has been thoroughly searched, the team felt a bored familiarity with their surroundings.

Athrun and Nicol lay on their respective beds; the single window no longer cast open due to the sudden cold that had presented itself earlier in the week. Propped against the headboard with a book resting on his knees, Athrun flipped another page. It was an old book by an archaic author from the 21st century. He was surprised that the base even had a working print library. As far as he knew, the entire PLANT had abandoned pulp paper in favor of the transparent, rewritable e-paper.

"_Know this, that in the beginning, through the dark reaches of infinity, was the law by which every intelligence has its being and fulfills the measure of its creation._" Did that mean that coordinators were destined to become the dominant species? If they fulfilled the measure of their creation, that would be the final result. And because of that truth, the Naturals despised them and wanted them erased from the universe, no matter what the cost. They would never cede dominance peacefully.

Athrun's acidic eyes drooped, his thoughts shifting from one woman's journey towards enlightenment, to the turbulent current of events flowing around him.

"Remain unmoving as a stone. Let the currents of time pass around you, until you are all that remains. Strong and eternal." His father had once said.

Athrun closed his eyes against the burning words on the page. "_When your spirit is harrowed by despair and all else fails you, compassion will magnify your soul until no glory is impossible_." His soul was indeed floundering in despair, but compassion seemed an elusive glimmer of light that he simply couldn't catch. Instead, he would murder and kill till his kind's measure of creation was fulfilled.

"_Courage will lift the fallen, make bearable the ache of many wounds, and guide your feet on the path when your eyes no longer see the light."_

His pain, his suffering, his guilt, - all lay bare on pages of archaic print. He would have courage. Not for himself, but for Lacus, for his team mates, and for his mother. If he died on some distant battlefield, it would not have been in vain. But why was he still afraid? How could he protect those he cared for if somewhere, deep inside, he was too afraid to stand up and fight?

Nicol laid on his stomach, propped up on his elbows with a PMP (Personal Music Player) console in his hand, the ear receivers hidden by loose, unkempt shocks of peridot. Nicol started as a sound- a sharp intake breath- cut through the music.

"Athrun," he called quietly, pulling out the ear receivers and turning to look at his friend's bed.

"Athrun," Nicol repeated, now slightly worried.

He was curled over his knees, arms wrapped around them to try and still the silent convulsions. A book lay forgotten on the floor where it had fallen, yellowing pages still drifting from one side to another. Waving sadly. His dark azure hair shadowed his face, and his head remained bowed in either shame or sheer inability to lift it.

Athrun didn't lift his head; he didn't want to look Nicol in the eyes. All he wanted to do was die of grief. He had signed up for the military just days after the Bloody Valentine, with no time to mourn for the dead. This weakness, it was abominable. Soldiers don't cry. They don't show weakness! His mind screamed at him to stop and regain his composure, to stop acting like a child. But his heart wouldn't comply. He was too exhausted, emotionally, to continue on.

The younger soldier watched in empathy, knowing that it would only hurt Athrun's pride if he tried to console him. The PMP continued to play through the song; the words muffled, but still painfully clear and painfully appropriate for the moment of poignant despair.

_"__Oh how I wish__  
For soothing rain  
All I wish is to dream again  
My loving heart  
Lost in the dark  
For hope I'd give my everything _

My flower, withered between  
The pages 2 and 3  
The once and forever bloom  
gone with my sins

Walk the dark path  
Sleep with angels  
Call the past for help  
Touch me with your love  
And reveal to me my true name_..."_


End file.
